Nerd Church - The Nebulousness Of Self-Care (Or 'What Do I Need?!')

Warning: Vague discussions of mental health issues

Disclaimer Time: I am not any sort of psychological, medical, or healthcare professional. I am a chick with an internet connection: nothing more, nothing less.

Does anyone else find it hard to figure out what sort of self-care they need?

Because it's not all bubble baths and scented candles 

- in fact I have to be careful with bubble baths in case my skin allergies freak out, and I don't like lighting candles anywhere near the cats because that's just an accident waiting to happen...

And apart from all that, the consumerist, one-size-fits-all, version of self-care does not, in fact, fit all.

Nerd Church - Basic Levels of Niceness

(Warning: this blogpost discusses low self-worth and mental health problems. It also briefly discusses toxic/abusive friendships.)

"Oh My God! You remembered!" 

She's holding the chocolate orange, still partly covered by reindeer wrapping paper, like it's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen.

"Yeah?" - of course I did, she and our friend spent a good half an hour a month or so back discussing how sad it was that no-one ever gets them chocolate oranges, how much they love chocolate oranges, and that they hadn't had chocolate oranges in forever. 

So, when I was buying their Christmas presents, I bought a couple of chocolate oranges. No brainer; no biggy.

"You're so sweet!"

...Am I?

Nerd Church - The Little Things Are There To Enjoy...

 

It's good to remind ourselves - as often as is necessary - that the little things are there to enjoy.

...By 'ourselves' I obviously mean me - we need to remind me. 😅

Warning/Disclaimer Time: 

I very briefly discuss mental health problems in this blogpost.

I also give opinions on what can contribute to people's mood, so: I'm not any sort of scientific/medical/psychological professional - I'm a chick with personal experience of mental health issues and an internet connection. OK? OK.

The little things contribute so much to our lives.

Our beautiful, messed-up, everyday lives are made up of the bracelet you wore this morning, what you had for breakfast, whether you tripped over the doorstep on your way out, what song is playing on the radio... etc. etc.

Nerd Church - Sometimes, This Is OK

I don't know what I'm writing but I hope it'll turn out OK. 

I'm literally just typing things and hoping it turns into a blogpost at this point.

Wish me luck.

Thoughts are hard to form, sometimes. 

Let alone trying to write something insightful, pithy, witty, or just plain worth it.

Sometimes I put way too much pressure on myself and on this blog. 

Not everything I write has to have some deep meaning behind it.

(I know - you wouldn't think it for by reading some of my posts on such heavy-weight topics as fanfiction and weird superhero videos I found on the Interwebs. 😅 )

Nerd Church - The Best and Worst of Humanity

Warning: this post talks trolls and bigots, but mostly in the abstract sense

The internet is an interesting cesspit.

The best and the worst of humanity in one place.

(Thank God it's not still 2016 - for graphic imagery and threats, that year has thankfully yet to be beaten for me.)

Comics Wrap-Up - You Can 100% Guarantee I Need Klaus Hargreeves

It's Thursday, this week has been truly awful for me, so let's get some superhero-y comics-y goodness!

Nerd Church - You Can't Do All of the Things, All of the Time (And That's OK)

 

I feel like it's a good time of year to remind myself of something:

I only have two hands.

Now, obviously, that makes sense literally (for me, at least) - but it works on a metaphorical/figurative type of way too.

I can only do what I can do - I only have so many hours in a day, so much energy to expend, so many resources to draw on... I only have two hands.

Nerd Church - Always Assume That You're NOT Lazy

Disclaimer time: I am not any kind of mental health, medical, or life-coach-style professional. I'm a random Welsh chick with a blog - nothing more, nothing less

Lazy people exist, I'm sure. 

Lord knows, we've all met a few in the course of our lives - and they'll keep on being lazy regardless of what I do or do not say.

But most people aren't lazy

- we just tell ourselves we are.

Nerd Church - Being Exhausted Is Exhausting

I've been trying, lately, to let myself be tired when I'm tired.

Now, that probably seems simple to a lot of you - you lucky folks who get tired and just... accept it.

But me? Apparently when I'm tired, my natural reaction is to do more. 

Which... uh... makes no sense. 

I'm going to assume it's at least partly down to the tiger vs. not tiger thing I've talked about before. 😅 

I.e. my weird little hooman bean brain thinks we're under attack and/or vulnerable in some way when I'm tired, and pushes me to be alert to the dangers/fight the tiger/whatever.

Nerd Church - Writing A Full Blogpost In 32 Minutes

 

Turns out, I can write a whole-a** blogpost in 32 minutes.

...I know - I was surprised too!

OK, so I was kinda brain-foggy this week, and ended up writing both this week's Comics Wrap-Up (CWU) and Friday Fics Fix (F3) posts the day before they were due to go live on the blog.

One day, I will be a blogger that can schedule content well ahead of time, but that day is a long way off 😅

Nerd Church - Some Reminders To Myself (And Maybe You, Too)

 

It's been a rough week, mental-health-wise.

So I figured I needed to remind myself of a few things - and hopefully some of them will be helpful reminders to you, too.

Disclaimer time: I am not any kind of mental health, medical, or psychological professional. I'm a chick with a blog.

Comics Wrap-Up - Chillaxed Vibes

 

It's July, it's Thursday, this is Dora Reads, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Month in Review(s) - May 2022

(Warning: this post discusses Covid, migraines, and mental health problems)

 

I know it's late-ish June. I got Covid.

...And I didn't want to just not do a post for May, because it was bugging me 😅

May 2022... *hysterical laughter*

OK, May 2022 was a bit of a rollercoaster for me.

Like, there was some really good stuff, some really bad stuff, and some stuff I point-blank don't know how to categorise.

Nerd Church - The Assimilation of Self-Care

Warning: this post discusses mental health problems and stigma

Disclaimer time!: I am not any kind of medical, mental health, or psychological professional; I'm a chick with a blog.

The system sees something and seeks to assimilate it.

Capitalism is a Borg Queen.

(I may've been watching too much Star Trek: Picard, but the statement still stands. 😅)

'Stunning 8K-resolution meditation app
In honor of the revolution, it's half-off at the Gap'

- Bo Burnham, That Funny Feeling 

Self-Care does NOT mean candles or baths or face masks.

Don't get me wrong: There's nothing WRONG with using candles or baths or face masks as a type of self-care - nothing AT ALL. 

Don't let anyone tell you any different. 

Nerd Church - Self-Care Wins From A Weird Week

 

I'm settling down to write this with some caution...

Because if the last few days have been anything to go by, the moment I really get into things, really get some momentum going... drama happens.

Month in Review(s) - April 2022

 

April was rough, mental health-wise.

I'm OK - just having to adapt and take care.

...It's kind of worse when there's no real reason or trigger because there's nothing you can blame, y'know?

...and it really doesn't help that the pollen this year is exceptionally, brutally, high, so my hayfever is extra-present this year.

Kind of hard to focus on your mental health when the pollen is making you feel like a zombie, lol.

(Oh, and hayfever is linked to climate change. #TrueStory.)

Nerd Church - Even Franz-Freaking-Kafka...

 

Ever heard of a writer called Kafka?

If it was up to him, you probably wouldn't have. 

But millions of people know his name - and have heard the term 'Kafkaesque,' which is a fancy and more succinct way of saying 'reminds me of the stuff that that Kafka feller wrote.'

Nerd Church - Brain Fog Days

Warning: this post discusses brain fog as a symptom of Depression/Anxiety

Disclaimer time: I am not any kind of medical, psychological, or neurological professional. I'm a chick with a blog and some personal experiences - nothing more, nothing less.

Some days, my brain does not work.

Call it brain fog, call it fuzziness, call it extreme mental fatigue.

It's common with migraines (which I get,) and Depression and Anxiety (which I have,) as well as a whole bunch of other conditions - including Long Covid, for which it's gotten a lot of media attention.

Nerd Church - We Don't Make Good Decisions When We're Tired, OK?

'Three in the morning is never the time to try and sort out your life.'

- Matt Haig, Reasons To Stay Alive

Most of us have been there - it's a ridiculous time in the night, you're utterly shattered, and you're still trying to get things done.

You inevitably make a mistake -

because you should be sleeping 

- and you decide that your entire life is a sh**-show, and you need to leave everything you know behind and move to the mountains and breed chinchillas or something equally random.

(...Unless that's a long-held ambition of yours, in which case don't let me stop ya!)

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Run To The Next Tree (Write To The Next Full Stop)

 

Wanna see how far you can run? Wanna train to run a marathon or a 5k or whatever it is running-people do?

Find a tree.